11 Products to Help You Celebrate National Margarita Day

Happy National Margarita Day! Celebrate by blending up some delicious cocktails. (Both traditional or frozen are allowed—it's a holiday, after all.) Here are some products to use while you and your friends are hanging on the porch throwing back margs in the warm February sun.

1. QUENCH MARGARITA MASTER; $12

Nothing kills a buzz faster than having to clean a bunch of knives and strainers, so streamline the process with the all-in-one Margarita Master, which comes with a knife, reamer, jigger, salt rimmer, and strainer. Not only is the entire marg-making process handled with one device, but clean-up is easy, which means you can get back to enjoying the simpler things—namely, tequila, lime juice, and triple-sec—more quickly.

2. MOLECULAR MIXOLOGY KIT; $30

Margarita Day is really about kicking back with a frosty treat, but if you want to inject some science into your cocktail, no one’s going to stop you. This kit comes with three easy molecular recipes to transform your margarita drinking experience. You can break down lime juice into little "caviar" beads or turn it into a flavor-filled cloud of foam. It may not be the way Jimmy Buffet intended the cocktail to be ingested, but there’s no judgment in Margaritaville.

3. TRES AGAVES MARGARITA MIX; $26

Most people prefer to make their margaritas from scratch, but when you're in a real rush to relax, there might not be time to get all the ingredients together. With agave nectar and pulpy lime juice, this handy mix guarantees a sweet cocktail in seconds; all you need to add is the tequila.

4. MARGARITA JELLY BELLYS; $11

If you’re looking to get into the spirit of the holiday without the booze, these jelly beans taste a lot like the real thing. “The Lexus of Jelly Beans!” one Amazon reviewer raved. The beans come in 1 pound bags; you can fill margarita glasses with the green beans for a similar experience.

5. COLORED SALT; $29

Buffet might still be searchin’ for his lost shaker of salt, but you can be well equipped with this kit of eight different colored salt tins. The dyed Sicilian flake comes in every color of the rainbow, so you can match your margs with your Hawaiian shirts.

6. MARGARITA BATH BOMB; $5

Ever wish you could swim in a giant margarita? You can do something similar (and less sticky) by dipping into a bath with one of these margarita-scented bath bombs. Drop the ball into a tub and in just a few minutes, you can be soaking in lime smells and chill tropical vibes.

7. MARGARITA COOKIES; $32/DOZEN

These margarita-shaped cookies are a party for your taste buds. The hand-baked treats don't taste like a margarita (they have a hint of almond flavoring) but you can always wash them down with the real thing.

8. VERY CHILL PARROT HAT; $5

When cruising over to your next margarita party, a simple Hawaiian shirt and flip-flops might not be enough to really convey how relaxed you’re about to get. Sporting this parrot hat is the perfect look for when you’re trying to really chill out with a cold margarita in hand.

9. MARGARITA POOL FLOAT; $28

Is there any better way to enjoy a margarita than by basking in the middle of a pool? This margarita-shaped pool float will keep you buoyant while you drift in a citrusy haze. Don’t worry: There’s a cup holder for your drink.

10. MARGARITAVILLE BAHAMAS FROZEN CONCOCTION MAKER; $181

When concocting the perfect frozen margarita, you need the perfect device to blend it. The Margaritaville Bahamas Frozen Concoction Maker is the perfect kitchen item to make cocktails that embody the casual islands attitude. A mixing tool with measurements for pina coladas, daiquiris, and margaritas helps fledgling bartenders get the ratios just right on the first go. The mixer is dishwasher safe so you can throw it in when you hit the hammock with your drink.

11. DUAL TANK BACKPACK; $40

Spread good vibes this holiday by dispensing margaritas in record time for all your thirsty friends. This dual-tank backpack comes with two gravity-fed hand taps and a 210-ounce capacity. There’s even a mesh bag that clips to the side and holds cups.

A huge queue outside the Board of Health offices in Centre Street, New York, for licenses to sell alcohol shortly after the repeal of prohibition. The repeal of prohibition was a key policy of Franklin Roosevelt's government as it allowed the government an opportunity to raise tax revenues at a time of economic hardship.

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It was 84 years ago today that the Twenty-First Amendment to the Constitution was ratified, repealing the earlier Amendment that declared the manufacture, sale, and transport of alcohol illegal in the United States. Prohibition was over! Booze that had been illegal for 13 years was suddenly legal again, and our long national nightmare was finally over.

A giant barrel of beer, part of a demonstration against prohibition in America.

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Prohibition of alcohol was not a popular doctrine. It turned formerly law-abiding citizens into criminals. It overwhelmed police with enforcement duties and gave rise to organized crime. In cities like Milwaukee and St. Louis, the dismantling of breweries left thousands of people unemployed.

Homemade alcohol was often dangerous and some people died from drinking it. Some turned to Sterno or industrial alcohol, which was dangerous and sometimes poisoned by the government to discourage drinking. State and federal governments were spending a lot of money on enforcement, while missing out on taxes from alcohol.

New York City Deputy Police Commissioner John A. Leach (right) watches agents pour liquor into sewer following a raid during the height of Prohibition.

The midterm elections of 1930 saw the majority in Congress switch from Republican to Democratic, signaling a shift in public opinion about Prohibition as well as concerns about the depressed economy. Franklin Roosevelt, who urged repeal, was elected president in 1932. The Twenty-first Amendment to the Constitution was proposed by Congress in February of 1933, the sole purpose of which was to repeal the Eighteenth Amendment establishing Prohibition.

American men guarding their private beer brewing hide-out, during Prohibition.

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With passage of the Constitutional Amendment to repeal Prohibition a foregone conclusion, a huge number of businessmen lined up at the Board of Health offices in New York in April of 1933 to apply for liquor licenses to be issued as soon as the repeal was ratified.

The Amendment was ratified by the states by the mechanism of special state ratifying conventions instead of state legislatures. Many states ratified the repeal as soon as conventions could be organized. The ratifications by the required two-thirds of the states was achieved on December 5, 1933, when conventions in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Utah agreed to repeal Prohibition through the Amendment.

Workmen unloading crates of beer stacked at a New York brewery shortly after the repeal of Prohibition.

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A brewery warehouse in New York stacked crates past the ceiling to satisfy a thirsty nation after the repeal of Prohibition.

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Liquor wouldn't officially be legal until December 15th, but Americans celebrated openly anyway, and in most places, law enforcement officials let them.

This year, eschew your one-tiny-chocolate-a-day Advent calendar and count down to Christmas the boozy way. An article on the Georgia Straight tipped us off to New District’s annual wine Advent calendars, featuring 24 full-size bottles.

Each bottle of red, white, or sparkling wine is hand-picked by the company’s wine director, with selections from nine different countries. Should you be super picky, you can even order yourself a custom calendar, though that will likely add to the already-high price point. The basic 24-bottle order costs $999 (in Canadian dollars), and if you want to upgrade from cardboard boxes to pine, that will run you $100 more.

If you can’t quite handle 24 bottles (or $999), the company is introducing a 12-bottle version this year, too. For $500, you get 12 reds, whites, rosés, and sparkling wines from various unnamed “elite wine regions.”

With both products, each bottle is numbered, so you know exactly what you should be drinking every day if you really want to be a stickler for the Advent schedule. Whether you opt for 12 or 24 bottles, the price works out to about $42 per bottle, which is somewhere in between the “I buy all my wines based on what’s on sale at Trader Joe’s” level and “I am a master sommelier” status.

If you want to drink yourself through the holiday season, act now. To make sure you receive your shipment before December 1, you’ll need to order by November 20. Get it here.